[Page H1144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING OREGON'S 161ST BIRTHDAY

  (Mr. WALDEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, on February 14, Oregon celebrates her 
161st birthday. As a lifelong Oregonian whose ancestors came there by 
wagon train in 1845, I may be a little biased, but I can confidently 
say there is no place like Oregon.
  She boasts of so many unparalleled wonders and sights from the 
mighty, powerful Columbia River and the winds of the Columbia River 
Gorge to the majestic Painted Hills to the rugged landscape of the 
Umatilla National Forest, the clear, deep blue waters of Crater Lake, 
the deepest lake in North America. Then think about the great Cascade 
Mountains or Steens Mountain or the Wallowas or the Blues, and then all 
the way down to the depths of Hells Canyon.
  The late great Republican Governor Tom McCall said it best. He said, 
``Oregon is an inspiration. Whether you come to it, or are born to it, 
you become entranced by our State's beauty, the opportunity she 
affords, and the independent spirit of her citizens.''
  Madam Speaker, I wish a happy birthday to Oregon. She truly does fly 
with her own wings.

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